Vegetation+Methods

Students observed the vegetation at each site and assessed the risk of the trees and surrounding area. The format students used was set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) named the [|Community Tree Risk Evaluation Form].

Steps for tree risk:
 * Picked ten trees for each site that were representative of the area.
 * Noted the species
 * Took the diameter of the tree using diameter at breast height (DBH) - measured parallel of the slope, 1.3 meters from ground
 * Recorded the Universal Time Measurement (UTM) location
 * Assessed the seven risk factors to health of the tree such as:
 * Decay
 * Root problems
 * Weak branch unions
 * Poor tree architecture
 * Cankers
 * Guilding
 * Cracks
 * Any other visible problems.
 * After noting everything, each tree was given a risk rating and a corrective code if needed.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Students also noted any other type of vegetation like invasive species etc.